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Sammy Blais’ Time In New York Looks To Be Over

By Lucas Standel

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 29: Sammy Blais #91 of the New York Rangers looks on during the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on October 29, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 29: Sammy Blais #91 of the New York Rangers looks on during the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on October 29, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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On January 24, 2022, Sammy Blais was sent down to the Hartford Wolfpack on a conditioning stint because he will not be playing. games for the New York Rangers anytime soon. Blais has been very disappointing for the Rangers this season as he only has 5 assists in 38 games this season.

He has been a frequent healthy scratch and has become someone that the fanbase has bashed because of his poor play. Why hasn’t he worked out and why does it seem like his time as a Ranger is over?

Blais was traded to the Rangers in the summer of 2021 from the St.Louis Blues. Ranger fans will always remember this trade because going the other way was Pavel Buchnevich. Buchnevich was becoming a top player for the Rangers at the time of the trade. The Rangers traded him away because they did not want to pay him the raise he deserved and because they were looking in a different direction and wanted to acquire better defensive and tougher players to play against.

Ranger fans were not happy with this trade due to the lack of return for Buchnevich and to this day, this trade is the worst one made by Chris Drury.

new york rangers
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 29: Sammy Blais #91 of the New York Rangers looks on during the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on October 29, 2021, in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Buchnevich went on to become an elite player for the Blues, while Blais has been struggling since day one. His first season as a Ranger was cut short due to him tearing his ACL in his right knee. Ever since coming back from this injury, he has not looked like an NHL player. And while it does take time to recover from a serious injury like that, fans are ready to move on from Blais and never want him to play for the Rangers again.

One of the reasons why Blais has been outcasted from the lineup is due to players like Julien Gauthier outplaying him and providing more to the lineup than Blais does. Blais can hit, but other than that, he does not provide anything else to this Rangers team. The Rangers have guys who can play tough and can hit so it renders Blais useless in the grand scheme. Now the question is what does the future hold for Blais in the Rangers organization?

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – NOVEMBER 10: Sammy Blais #91 of the New York Rangers takes a third-period shot past Gustav Lindstrom #28 of the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on November 10, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – NOVEMBER 10: Sammy Blais #91 of the New York Rangers takes a third-period shot past Gustav Lindstrom #28 of the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on November 10, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

If the Rangers want to trade him, they won’t get much. Sammy has not proved he is worth any assets and Drury does not want to put him on waivers because he doesn’t want to lose him for no return. Sending him to Hartford, maybe this will allow him to get some confidence back and it can show other teams that he is worth giving up a pick or prospect for. Sammy Blais has had an up-and-down road, but it is safe to say that his future is not with the New York Rangers.

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